Firms backed over public-sector work

NORTH-WEST firms and small businesses are being urged to name and shame the public-sector organisations that treat them unfairly in contracts.

A new report shows that late payment and unfair or overly bureaucratic processes are the big issues for small firms bidding for or working on public-sector contracts.

Checks

Firms are being encouraged to use the Government’s Mystery Shopper service, which carries out daily spot checks on public-sector procurement and tweets case outcomes and general findings from spot checks on contracts.

Since it was set up in February, 2011, it has dealt with 24 complaints in the North-West and made recommendations for improvements in two thirds of cases.

Businesses can either email mysteryshopper @ccs.gsi.gov.uk anonymously or use the new @GovMysteryShop Twitter handle to find out more about the service and how they can report concerns about the way the public sector buys goods or services, or works with suppliers.

The Government also wants to make it easier for small businesses to access some of the £230 billion of annual public-sector spending — the aim is for a quarter of central government expenditure to be spent with small firms by 2015.

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “Small businesses are our economy’s life-blood so we are ensuring they have the chance to compete for and win Government contracts.

“Before 2010 no one even bothered to monitor what contracts small businesses were getting but now we know that since then they are winning significantly more contracts.

“Mystery Shopper allows small businesses to raise concerns directly about procurement practices.”

The Government is also planning to introduce major procurement legislation to tackle the issue later in the year.

More information on the Mystery Shopper scheme is available online at www.gov.uk/doing-business-with-government-a-guide-for-smes.